Facebook Owner To Sue Hundreds Of Hawaiians To Protect His 700-Acre Kauai Estate

Now
the Facebook billionaire is suing a few hundred Hawaiians who still
have legal-ownership claims to parts of his vacation estate through
their ancestors, as reported by the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

Three
holding companies controlled by Zuckerberg filed eight lawsuits in
local court on December 30 against families who collectively inherited
14 parcels of land through the Kuleana Act, a Hawaiian law established
in 1850 that gave natives the right to own the land that they lived on
for the first time.

The
14 parcels total just 8.04 of the 700 acres Zuckerberg owns, but the
law gives any direct family member of a parcel's original owner the
right to enter the otherwise private compound. Only one of the parcels
is being used, by a retired professor named Carlos Andrade, who has
joined Zuckerberg as a coplaintiff in the lawsuits.

The
quiet-title lawsuits that have been filed are designed to identify all
property owners and give them the ability to sell their ownership stakes
at auction, according to Keoni Shultz, an attorney representing
Zuckerberg. Because the ownership stakes are passed down and divided
among family descendants by the state, many people don't realize they
have a claim until action is taken against them in court.

“It
is common in Hawaii to have small parcels of land within the boundaries
of a larger tract, and for the title to these smaller parcels to have
become broken or clouded over time," Shultz told Business Insider in a
statement. "In some cases, co-owners may not even be aware of their
interests. Quiet title actions are the standard and prescribed process
to identify all potential co-owners, determine ownership, and ensure
that, if there are other co-owners, each receives appropriate value for
their ownership share.”

This isn't the first time that Zuckerberg has taken steps to fortifying his Kauai property. Last year he angered neighbors by constructing a rock wall that blocked their views of the ocean.

Facebook Owner To Sue Hundreds Of Hawaiians To Protect His 700-Acre Kauai Estate
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January 19, 2017
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